Posts tagged: 11

As a pickle lover, my fridge is almost always full of empty pickle jars. Yes, you read that right: They’re empty, save for the remaining brine. You see, I can’t really help myself when it comes to those little green guys. No matter how hard I try not to, I always end up eating entire jars in one sitting, usually right after I get home from the grocery store. As soon as I’m finished inhaling them, I’m still a little in denial that they’re all gone, and I have a hard time justifying throwing out something I just bought. So I place the juice-filled jar back in my fridge—a new addition to my collection. “I’ll use the pickle juice eventually!” I tell myself, but then I never do.

The reason I don’t use the pickle juice isn’t because I don’t want to. I just can’t ever think of anything to do with it. (It’s a real pickle, am I right?) But I can’t ignore those jars every time I open the fridge any longer, so I’m setting out to finally make use of them once and for all.

Unsurprisingly, the internet knows of a few ingenious ways to put leftover pickle juice to work. These 11 recipes include ideas that actually make a lot of sense, like salad dressings and sauces that take advantage of pickle juice’s briny, vinegary nature. Of course, there are also some experimental ideas, like pickle soup and pickle bread, for anyone who wants to get a little freaky.

When warmer weather rolls around, frozen cocktails are my jam. Every year like clockwork I count down the days until the temperature is high enough for me to whip out my Vitamix and blend up a batch of piña coladas to enjoy in the sun. Every time, that first sip of icy coconut, pineapple, and rum is just as fantastic as I remember.

The thing is, piña coladas and most other frozen drinks kind of double as dessert. They’re often high in sugar, alcohol and not much else. And, while you don’t have to swear off sugar or alcohol completely in order to be healthy, the USDA recommends getting no more than 10 percent of your daily calories from added sugar, and drinking alcohol in moderation, if at all. So, having some lower-alcohol, lower-sugar cocktail recipes up your sleeve can be really handy.

These 11 recipes include all the classic frozen cocktails you’ll crave during the summer, but none of them are over 200 calories per suggested serving size. Basically, all of them are a good bet for keeping cool all spring and summer long.

This layered frozen sangria has all the flavors and the colors. The top layer gets its vibrant red hue from raspberries and the blue bottom from a natural food coloring made with spirulina. Get the recipe here.